The FRA and the Volpe Center are making remarkable progress demonstratating the effectiveness of Crash Energy Management for improving the survivability of train collisions. Click here for a dramatic illustration.
The top frame in the video shows a test collision between a conventional passenger train operating at 30 mph and a short freight train standing on the same track. The results (as also shown in the timelapse photo shown here) are devastating for anyone in the first car of the passenger train.
The bottom frame in the video shows the same test collision but with prototype crash energy management gear installed. The results are relatively mild and frankly very surviveable.
Kudos to the research team from the Volpe Center and Tufts University.
Click for more information.
Updated links on Feb 16 2012
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